Michael Sam faces complicated path in NFL, players say

Michael Sam’s announcement that he’s gay has the potential to be a watershed moment in the NFL, if the former Missouri defensive end earns a roster spot during the 2014 season.

Current and former pro players said Sam’s path will only become more complicated before the season begins, though. And two ex-Texans had differing takes on how Sam’s sexuality will be handled and accepted if he makes a team this year.

“The locker room sometimes mirrors society,” said Arizona Cardinals right tackle Eric Winston, an eight-year veteran from Midland, who was selected by the Texans in the third round of the 2006 draft. “You’re going to have a group of guys that are going to be open to him, that are going to be welcoming. There’s a possibility you’re going to have a group of guys that, for whatever reason, they don’t want to know, they don’t want to be around him. And then you’ll have some guys as well that don’t care – they just want to win.”

He added: “Guys are just going to have get their heads around that they’re going to have to work with him and they’ve got to win with him.”

Like Winston, former Texans first-round pick Travis Johnson and Ted Johnson, a three-time Super Bowl-winning linebacker with the New England Patriots, said Sam will ultimately be accepted in the NFL if he can contribute to a team’s success. But multiple hurdles remain for the 6-foot-2, 255-pound Sam, a Hitchcock native who was an All-American and SEC co-defensive player of the year during his senior season with the Tigers.

NFLDraftScout.com rates Sam as the No. 160 overall prospect in the 2014 draft and he was already viewed as a ‘tweener before his announcement. Travis Johnson compared Sam’s NFL potential to Sam Montgomery, who was a bust as the Texans’ third-round pick in 2013 and entered the draft already dealing with size limitations. Moreover, Sam must overcome a series of unprecedented public hurdles, which won’t end even if he earns a roster spot in Week 1.

Former NFL players say that Michael Sam will stick in the NFL as long as his sexuality doesn’t become a constant distraction to his team. (Jeff Roberson/Associated Press)

Sam’s expected to face a media circus at the NFL combine next week in Indianapolis and will likely outdraw much more hyped talent, such as former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel. Next, Sam must overcome his ‘tweener status and be drafted, then earn one of 53 roster spots on a team and prove he can consistently contribute, all while breaking the NFL’s gay barrier.

“It’s one of those things (former Florida State) coach (Bobby) Bowden always said: ‘We have different rules for different people, ’ ” said Travis Johnson, the No. 16 overall pick of the 2005 draft. “If your play outweighs your distraction, then it’s OK. But if your distraction outweighs your play, then there’s no place for you on this team. And, right now, he is a third- to fifth-round pick, already. And now all of a sudden to come in with this huge distraction, that’s going to drop him off people’s boards.”

Ted Johnson said a black starting quarterback in the NFL was viewed by some as a big deal just a decade ago. Russell Wilson guided Seattle to a Super Bowl victory last season and his race was barely mentioned during media coverage leading up to the Seahawks’ blowout win.

“A non-story,” Ted Johnson said. “But it took Doug Williams and it took Michael Vick and it took former black quarterbacks to step up for us to make it so it wasn’t a big deal.”

While Sam must prove himself worthy of being drafted and convince a team he belongs on its roster, he also must find acceptance with at least one of 32 ownership groups, many of whom are led by older white males who came of age during a less accepting era in American society.

“They’re old right-wing Republicans. They’re almost Tea Party Republicans,” Travis Johnson said. “ … And most of ‘em that I’ve met have been great guys. But they come from a different time. So if you ask them to accept this and give this guy $10 million of their hard-earned money, then you’re alienating yourself.”

Ted Johnson said Sam’s unexpected announcement on Sunday and his potential of finding a home this season on an NFL roster has suddenly put the biggest sport in the world “on call.” The league issued a statement Sunday supporting Sam. But in the hours after his announcement — which was issued in a media-controlled event — everyone from anonymously sourced scouts to current players questioned how accepting the NFL will actually be if Sam sticks with a team.

“I think the players can handle it more than the front office. … They are older and I don’t think, as a group, as socially open to the social issues,” Ted Johnson said.

He added: “The generation behind me is more accepting. Kids are more accepting. There’s more socially liberal viewpoints than ever. I don’t think it would be as big of a deal as when I played 10 years ago.”

Media distractions caused by Richard Sherman’s postgame NFC championship interview were overlooked by his teammates, Travis Johnson said, because Sherman is one of the premier defensive backs in the league. But if Sam creates a Tim Tebow situation – where media hype and constant coverage don’t match his on-field production – then NFL players could quickly sour on Sam and want him removed from their team.

“That’s why guys didn’t want to play with Tim Tebow. … Guys in the locker room looked at it as our second-team quarterback is having a press conference,” Travis Johnson said.

Tebowmania peaked and flamed out during the outspoken Christian quarterback’s unsuccessful 2012 run with the New York Jets, when his name was often a minute-by-minute presence on ESPN’s SportsCenter. But in the right media market and surrounded by an open-minded NFL environment, the news cycle about Sam’s sexuality could die down once regular-season games begin.

Two members of the tumultuous but successful 1993 Oilers were known as being gay, two teammates recently told the Houston Chronicle.

Travis Johnson said he played with gay athletes during his six-year career and could see some of them coming out during the next 10 years. But an openly gay player on a 2014 team – potentially one who’s a late-round draft pick and barely makes the roster – could create a very complicated scenario.

“At the end of the day – and you can quote me on this – there are guys in this league that everybody knows of being gay over the years,” Travis Johnson said. “There’s guys that’s come through the league that have been great players in this league that everybody knows that are gay. There are future Hall of Famers that everybody knows that are gay.

“But guess what? It’s not a big deal. It’s not a big deal because they’re not making no announcements. It’s one of those things where, hey, to each his own. That’s your life. But as soon as it becomes a distraction or as soon as it’s an issue, then that’s a whole other ball game.”